The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, on Tuesday said the Peoples Democratic Party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance and the Accord are now backing President Bola Tinubu’s reelection bid.
Yilwatda also said the party had completed preparations for the formal launch of its presidential campaign in Kaduna on Saturday, October 24.
The former Humanitarian Affairs Minister spoke to State House correspondents in Abuja on Tuesday after he and the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Abdul’aziz Yari, briefed Tinubu on the arrangements.
Yilwatda said the parties that had defeated the APC in elections were aligned with the ruling party, which he described as proof of growing support for the President.
“If you look at what the party is doing now, the opposition parties are with us. All political parties that have defeated us in any election are with us; PDP is with us, APGA is with us, Accord is with us.
“These are the only political parties that have defeated us, except Allied People’s Movement, and they are all with us in this campaign,” he stated.
On the campaign flag-off in Kaduna, he said everything was in place.
“For now, everything is set; the preparation is on, the members are motivated, the states, the committees are ready, and everything that is supposed to be done has been done.”
Yari, a former Zamfara State governor, said the council would run an issue-based campaign built on the record of the Tinubu administration and not on personal attacks.
“We are going to do a campaign with the records – a responsible campaign, no insults, no calling of names, because there’s no name before us, but we have a record before us to show to Nigerians.
“This is what our party did, this is what our government did, so because of that, we are asking, pleading with Nigerians to look at this record carefully so that they give us a second chance for continuity,” he stated.
Yari said after meeting Tinubu on October 9, the President had approved the campaign timetable, including planned visits to states.
The council, which was inaugurated on October 14, has Tinubu as its chairman and Vice President Kashim Shettima and Yilwatda serving as vice chairmen.
The Accord presidential candidate, Christopher Imumolen, withdrew from the race in a statement on August 5 and endorsed Tinubu.
The APGA national chairman, Sly Ezeokenwa, said in March that the party would not field a presidential candidate and intended to adopt Tinubu.
Meanwhile, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who declared himself leader of the PDP, vowed to ensure APC votes in the FCT and Rivers State.
However, a rival PDP faction led by Tanimu Turaki (SAN) has disputed Wike’s legitimacy as the party leader.
The faction also ruled out any alliance with the APC ahead of the 2027 general elections, warning that such a move posed a threat to electoral democracy and could lead Nigeria towards an “electoral monarchy.”
The faction, in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of its Interim National Working Committee, Ini Ememobong, on Tuesday said the party’s principled members would not support Tinubu’s re-election or endorse the policies of the APC-led Federal Government.
The Turaki-led INWC described those promoting Tinubu’s support as pretenders within the opposition.
He stated, “The news credited to Minister Nyesom Wike that PDP candidates should collapse their structures and support the re-election of President Bola Tinubu is nothing new, except for the fact that his message is not directed at real PDP members. The message is meant for persons who, like him, are pretenders in the opposition but are working for the governing party.
“The true and principled members of the Peoples Democratic Party are not part of the shameless, self-serving support for the APC-led Federal Government and its destructive policies. The paramount duty of the opposition is to provide an alternative to the incumbent, not to massage their ego. If at all opposition parties are to have an alliance, it will be amongst themselves, not with the governing party.
“This political anomaly, styled and championed as a Rainbow Coalition, is the greatest threat to electoral democracy and the fastest way of railroading the country into an electoral monarchy.
“We urge all true and faithful members of the Peoples Democratic Party to remain steadfast as we await the judiciary’s decision, hopeful that it will return our party to its true owners. Our case at the Court of Appeal has been heard, and we await judgment. We know that the entire judiciary is conscious that justice delayed is justice denied.
“Nigerians should be wary of elite accommodation and state capture masquerading as broad-based political collaboration. The election next year provides a great opportunity to vote out these insensitive and irresponsible political actors.”